Episode 3 Street Patrol UK

Our lives are blighted by antisocial behaviour,

whether it's nuisance neighbours, graffiti on the streets

or too much booze.

Come in, enjoy yourself, have a drink. Don't be a twit.

This is the story of police officers, council wardens

and local volunteers whose job it is

to keep it off our streets.

It's something that people don't want to see.

And something we're out to try and put a stop to, aren't we?

Welcome to Street Patrol UK.

Coming up on today's programme...

On the hunt to stamp out the ultimate antisocial behaviour -

prostitution.

Step away from the car. I'm a police officer. Open this door or I'll jump over the wall.

A council tenant pushes his bad behaviour too far.

I've visited here with the police on three occasions now.

The police have also been called on numerous occasions

regarding the nuisance that you're causing your neighbours.

And the little girl waging a war against dog dirt.

I think they should have known better,

actually, to actually clean up after the dogs,

because I think they must have been adults.

Antisocial behaviour comes in many different forms

and one of the most unpleasant

is also one of the oldest professions in the world.

And if prostitutes were going about their business on your doorstep,

you'd want someone to move them on.

Time to meet Sergeant Dave Deal.

He's a member of the Vice Squad,

working through the night in the Tower Hamlets area of East London.

There's an awful lot of people frequent this area,

be it City workers,

people out at night... Brick Lane is 100 yards that way.

There's a massive number of people use this area.

And that's why...

the street workers work here.

This is not just a nightspot.

This area is also heavily residential.

Prostitutes going about their business on your doorstep

is clearly antisocial,

but it's also against the law to loiter for sex in a public place.

Kerb-crawling is illegal as well.

Despite that, the working girls are persistent,

as we found out when Dave and his colleague, PC James Cockshaw,

allowed us to follow them for a couple of nights.

And almost straight away, they spot a woman they recognise.

There's a young lady that we know.

What is this?

-Who are you - police?

-Yeah, you know us. You know me.

Come over here, we'll have a quick chat.

OK.

How much have you had to drink today?

Don't know. Why, you going to buy me one?

No!

You out and about tonight, or are you going to go in today?

Not sure? You've had enough to drink already, haven't you?

-I don't know.

-We are out tonight, and we might see you again later.

With the street worker on the corner there,

if we see her again tonight,

she will definitely be arrested.

But she says she's going home and she won't come back.

So...

that's quite good,

because at least the residents on the corner there

won't need to phone police this evening about

a street worker being on the corner.

But there are plenty more women out selling their wares.

And while patrolling on foot,

James hears some tell-tale noises coming from behind a wall.

Step away from the girl. I'm a police officer. Move to the left.

You move to the left and open the door.

Open this door or I'll jump over the wall.

I think they came out this way.

Hello. Hiya, fella.

Don't worry. Just stay here. Police officer. Don't be silly.

-Are you known to us at all?

-No.

-Never been arrested?

-No.

If we catch you having sex with a prostitute in a public place...

I'm really drunk.

That's all right. Just don't try and run away,

otherwise I'll be handcuffing you.

I don't want to get arrested.

Well, I'm sure you don't want to get arrested.

Don't go walking around. Don't go walking around,

because if you try and run,

we will have to catch you...

I'm really drunk. Can I just go?

No, not yet. Not at all.

I don't know what the officer has seen you doing,

and depending on what he's seen you doing,

depends on how we'll deal with it.

All right? But definitely we're going to do some checks on you.

I don't even know why I did it. It's cos she approached me and I was well drunk.

Dave gets on the radio to run checks on both the girl and the punter.

You're not wanted, so there's no big issues.

I just need to find out what James has seen.

And we'll decide how we're going to deal with it,

but probably you'll be going home.

So just hang on, let me find out from James. Don't go anywhere.

I never saw anything.

Hiya.

Looking through, I couldn't see...

I'm being honest with you, I couldn't see anything.

-Sorry.

-No worries.

-He can be quiet about being embarrassed.

If he, you know... If he doesn't want... Then don't do it!

Don't do it.

James didn't see you doing anything.

So what we're going to do, it's just a warning today.

We've got your details.

No worries, mate. We've got your details. If we see you again,

in this kind of situation,

you won't get a warning - you'll get dealt with.

Go home.

Hopefully, that's the one and only time he does it.

We never catch him again, and that'll be a bonus kind of thing.

One less person to catch.

I've never met her previously,

but she's been quite honest, said she was working.

You know? But again, she wanted to get some money

for drugs or methadone, she said this time.

But, as I say, because we couldn't actually catch them in the act,

there's no actual offence there, if you like.

Dave and James pay particular attention to this area

because of one brave resident.

Lily lives on an estate plagued by prostitutes

using its dark alleys and storage areas for business.

Things got so bad that Lily and one housing group

launched a major campaign,

working with the police and council to get extra street lighting.

One of the striking things was

we've got a young family who live up here.

So, you know, the mother told us that her son was actually...

She could actually hear

the noises and conversations, which weren't very pleasant.

And she was very concerned

that her son was hearing stuff that he shouldn't be, actually.

One of the key things that one resident shared with us

was, um...

their six-year-old was playing out

and, um,

he picked up what he thought was a balloon.

And he actually took it to his mouth

and he started to blow it up.

That was one of the things that actually really motivated me

to push forward the campaign and keep going at it, really.

It sounds horrific.

And it's the sort of thing you just can't ignore,

especially with so many young kids around.

Not satisfied with just some extra lights,

Lily kept on pushing and got local police chiefs

to agree to bring in the Vice Squad.

Quite often, there'd be condoms there.

Where people have just had sex there.

You used to get people in this little archway.

When you come out the other side of the archway,

you'll see how close it is to someone's front door.

They'd have sex here.

And then you've got a front door there.

So, you know,

it's antisocial behaviour

in kind of its rawest form.

Just round this next corner,

they'll quite often have sex in the bin chutes, bin stores.

And they'll just take a punter round there

and have sex in with the rubbish.

It's quite horrible, really.

I do take pride in the fact that

we have made an improvement to these residents' lives.

I am pleased with that.

That's what we're here for.

Um...the reason that our team was set up

was all because of complaints from the residents.

So Lily has had a massive reduction,

and she's quite happy to tell us. She's informed...

That really smells of drugs now.

Yeah.

Which way is the wind blowing?

I've got to go.

Drugs and prostitution often go hand in hand.

The women work to pay for their habit.

That means that drugs are at the root

of a lot of antisocial behaviour in the area.

As a result,

Dave and James are constantly on the hunt for banned substances.

Police officers.

How is everyone?

We've got some drugs, haven't we?

Where is it? I can smell it.

You've got some drugs on you. I can smell cannabis. It's quite strong.

-So you're saying you haven't had any cannabis tonight?

-I don't have any now.

No, you might not have now,

but...did you smoke some earlier?

No, not yet.

No? Not yet?

One of the guys quickly admits to having a stash of cannabis on him.

It's only a small amount, so James knows he's not a dealer.

But this particular individual's been caught before.

On that occasion, he was given a warning.

But for a second offence, things start to get more serious.

You'll get a penalty fine on the street.

It's £80.

And I'll explain the whole process of how you can pay it.

The only thing is, if you get caught again,

and you know we come round here, then we'll have to arrest you.

The police stop small-time users all the time,

but the drugs are coming from somewhere,

and to get to the dealers, the boys have to be lightning-quick.

SIRENS BLARE

Get out of the car!

Get out the car!

Get out the car.

Britain is known worldwide as a nation of dog-lovers,

but there's one thing we all don't like about them.

And that's their poo.

Now, loads of owners will clear up their dog's mess,

but sadly, there are a few out there who don't give a monkey's.

It's inconvenient. You could step into it.

It smells,

and it's not very nice to look at at the best of times anyway.

Consider the people that are walking along the pavements.

And little children.

They've got to be responsible, or don't have the dog.

Where I live, it's all around the streets.

And I go past it on the school run with the pushchair.

I always get it on my wheels.

And it goes straight onto my carpet at home. It's not very nice.

And it don't take two seconds to pick it up. It's disgusting.

The quiet town of Market Deeping in Lincolnshire

is much like many other places up and down the country.

It's a nice place to live and bring up your family.

But that lovely atmosphere can be completely ruined

by a few inconsiderate individuals who don't clean up after their dogs.

Fortunately for Market Deeping,

they have an unlikely saviour -

six-year old Grace Munton-Hague.

Every day when we came home from school,

we had to dodge poo with the buggy.

Each day, Grace and her mum Louisa walked to and from school

along a short alleyway known locally as The Cut.

Well, mainly there'd be blobs at the side, some in the middle.

So it's quite really everywhere in The Cut.

-Sometimes we have to cross the road, don't we?

-Mmm.

On the way to school.

And one day I was getting super-annoyed.

That day, it had just been snowing,

and there were about five or six bits of dog mess to get round.

I think they should have known better,

actually, to actually clean up after the dogs,

because I think they must have been adults.

Grace was so fed-up of dodging dog dirt,

she decided to hound out the antisocial dog-owners

in her own unique way.

When I came home, I made...I made these posters

to try and stop people

from leaving their dog mess about.

And this one,

I did it to say, "Please bag it up and throw it in the bin".

I thought I'd do a little picture of a person throwing poo in the bin,

and that's what we want -

a person putting poo in a bin,

not on the floor.

We didn't want to antagonise anybody.

We just wanted really to hope

that somebody would see that it has annoyed a child

and it's bothered a child enough to do some posters,

and it might make one person clear up.

I was really, really proud of her

to have the guts to actually do a poster.

And to want to make a difference,

because it's not just us that use The Cut -

other mums and children go down The Cut.

You really have got to admire young Grace,

wanting to make her community a nicer place.

But it's one thing to make some posters.

It's another for dog-owners to actually sit up

and pay attention.

Then we sneakily went out and put them up,

without anyone seeing us.

The next day, I realised

the posters were actually working!

There's less dog poo

when everyone saw the posters and since we put them up.

So it's been quite good.

Grace's posters were so successful,

her local newspaper started taking notice.

For Grace, it was a case of wanting to do something

and the action actually led to

something happening.

The fact that she put up the posters I think had an immediate impact

and the campaign obviously took hold.

And that's where things really took off.

The local council found out what Grace had done

and immediately backed her campaign.

Next thing, they put up 15 permanent signs

asking dog-owners to scoop the poop

and they promised a special bin.

First I was like, "Oh, I don't think this is going to work,

"cos just little me has done this,"

but then, when I actually saw the 15 signs went up,

I was saying, "Yeah, I think it's working now!"

We had quite a few letters from readers.

I think we had a couple of comments on the story online,

a few Tweets, a few posts on Facebook.

And it was obviously something that our readers agreed with.

I read about the little girl who did the campaign,

and that was a really good thing to do,

to make people aware.

And maybe people might take notice of that.

It's a lot better since the young lady's been putting her posters up.

People seem more aware of cleaning up the alleyway.

Obviously she wants her neighbourhood to look nice.

And she's gone out and put the effort in, to say to everyone,

"Right, I'm fed-up - just clean up the dog muck!"

Since Grace's posters went up and her campaign started,

there's been nothing in the alleyway where all the problem was.

I definitely do think it's made a difference.

And I think it's good

that I did that.

Grace really brought the messy dog-owners to heel.

She's a girl after my own heart.

If you believe in something, you can make a big difference,

not just for yourself, but for everyone around you.

There is nothing like a nuisance neighbour

to get the antisocial juices flowing.

If you lived next door to somebody

who constantly plays their music loud,

has a dog that won't stop barking

and is just generally not a nice person,

the chances are you don't like them, and you'd be crying out for help

and for somebody to do something about it.

This is Catherine Monaghan.

She's a Neighbourhood Nuisance Officer in Basildon in Essex.

Catherine is part of the council's troubleshooting Antisocial Behaviour Team.

And today, she's on her way to visit a local authority tenant

who needs a few stern words.

This gentleman was offered a council property

in the middle of March, I believe it was.

And ever since then we've been receiving complaints of antisocial behaviour.

We've had complaints of him and his friends hanging around outside the front of the property,

loud music, shouting and swearing

and threatening neighbours as well.

He is a temporary tenant,

so we will be telling him today that the next stage will be to serve a notice to quit.

And that will basically mean that we will instigate legal action

following that, which ultimately will lead to his eviction.

The council takes this antisocial behaviour very seriously,

and is no longer prepared to wait for the tenant to respond to their letters.

It's time for action.

Some of the neighbours' complaints have been about the tenant's dog,

so Catherine is accompanied by two Police Community Support Officers,

who need to make sure the dog isn't a danger to other residents.

It's Catherine from Basildon Council.

-Hello.

-Hello. Are you Mr Brown?

-No, I'm not.

-Sean, where's Terry?

-Dunno, mate.

I think he went round the shop a little while ago with his girlfriend.

-Have you got a contact number for him?

-I haven't got a phone, mate.

What shop did he go to? How long ago was that?

Two, three minutes ago? I think you've just missed him.

-We'll come back and see him.

-All right.

-Thank you.

He shouldn't be much longer.

-We'll have a look round.

-OK.

-Thank you.

-Cheers, mate.

Catherine's not going to give up now.

This is the closest she's ever got to talking to Mr Brown.

But there's further disappointment at the shop.

No sign of him or his dog.

I think we may have to suspend.

-Can you take us back to the van, please? I don't know where we're going.

-Yes.

I don't know around here.

Despite the frustration that Mr Brown seems to have slipped through their net,

Catherine is determined not to give up.

Myself and the police are going to come back in about an hour

and see if we can catch him in then.

See you in an hour.

It's the middle of the evening when the team regroup for round two.

I believe he's back at the property now, so we're going to try and speak to him.

Evicting a tenant is never taken lightly by the council.

But if a tenant persists in behaving badly,

and doesn't communicate, they're left with little choice.

-Hello, are you Mr Brown?

-I certainly am, my darling.

My name's Catherine. I'm from Basildon Council.

I work for the Antisocial Behaviour Team.

-We need to discuss some complaints that we've had...

-OK.

-..about your property.

-Basically, what it was,

it's, um...I had a couple of young fellows what was coming in here the other day.

I've come back to the property, I've heard the music. It was all quite loud.

I do understand that. So I've come back in.

I've, er...

I've got rid of them. They're gone out the house.

-Were they your friends?

-They was...

I've grown up with them years ago.

I've said to them, "Right, get out the house."

I've totally got them out the house.

And there was a gentleman what was on this house here...

-Yeah.

-Next door.

-Yeah.

I went straight to him and apologised, because obviously,

these people shouldn't have touched my music.

OK. The problem we've got, Mr Brown,

is I've visited here with the police on three occasions now.

And I've put cards through your door and asked you to contact me.

I got a letter today.

OK, that's the second letter I've sent you

-and unfortunately, we've not received any correspondence from you.

-Sorry.

The police have also been called on numerous occasions,

regarding the nuisance that you're causing your neighbours.

The problem that we've got is that you are a temporary tenant,

-and you understand what that means, don't you?

-I do understand.

And because it's your tenancy, it's your responsibility.

We've also got complaints about your dog.

Have you sought permission from Basildon Council for your dog?

Yes, they said I was allowed to have my dog here.

-Have you had written permission for that?

-When I come in here,

they said, cos I told them I had my dog...

and they said that it was OK.

Cos your dogs have been causing quite a bit of nuisance to the neighbours with the barking.

When someone knocks on your door, they do bark quite loudly.

Some of the complaints we've had is to do with the dogs.

And obviously we deal with that side ourselves.

-Yeah, I do understand.

-Can I just ask, Mr Brown,

do you consume alcohol yourself?

Part of the complaint is you and your friends are getting quite drunk, especially around this time,

and that you're standing out on the balcony, shouting and intimidating people.

I have a lot of people from coming down here...

When we've come out,

obviously, we've come out

and we've seen a lot of people, and they start arguing at the bottom of the stairs.

OK, well, we don't need to worry about all that.

-From our point of view...

-I do understand.

-Look after yourself.

If we get any further complaints,

from either the Antisocial Behaviour Team

or from neighbours around here complaining about you,

then we'll have to start investigating you further.

You'll be issued with a final warning today,

and the next stage, if we receive any further complaints,

is you're going to be served with a notice to quit.

And that is the first stage of legal proceedings,

-where we would look to evict you from the property.

-I do understand.

-You understand that?

-There'll be no more problems.

Let's put a line under it today.

-No further complaints, and no further action will be taken.

-Everything stops now.

-I appreciate your help. Thank you ever so much.

-Thanks for your time.

And the team's persistence has paid off.

They've finally managed to pin down the elusive Mr Brown.

I would hope that he's taken notice of what we've said,

and also in partnership with the police, which we do on a regular basis, completing visits.

I would hope that's had a positive impact on him

and he will realise that we will be patrolling the area

and we will take some positive action if any further antisocial behaviour happens.

I've been out and about on a street patrol of my own,

to hear what bothers you about Britain today.

Rob and Teresa, lovely to meet you both.

Now, who'd like to kick off with what really bothers them about antisocial behaviour?

Dogs' mess. There's no reason to leave any mess. They've got bags free from the council.

They can pick it all up. It's just crazy.

Especially when you go down our country park.

They put it in a bag and they throw it in the hedge and that sort of thing.

When people do that, I think someone should collect them,

take them round their house

and throw them in the front room or the bedroom.

I did that years ago when someone's dog did it outside my house.

I followed him and dropped it right outside his front door. He wasn't very happy!

-He saw you do that?

-Oh, yeah!

I said, "Your dog's just done that, you ain't cleared it up,

-"so have it outside your door, see how you like it!"

-What did he say?

He wasn't very happy. I won't tell you what he said!

It's been lovely talking to you both. Teresa, look after yourself.

-Let's try and change the country, make it a better place.

-Nice to see you.

It's clear that each and every one of us

have those antisocial irritations that are all around us.

And believe me, we didn't put that there.

And this bad behaviour isn't just confined to our modern-day streets.

It's also wreaking havoc on our Roman roads.

Chester Farm near Wellingborough might look like a load of fields,

but beneath the surface lies the remains of an enormous Roman town.

Tons of ancient cooking utensils, jewellery, coins

and other treasures are buried here.

But some have already been dug up and stolen by thieves,

posing as heritage enthusiasts.

And the really annoying thing is, this stuff belongs to you and me.

It's British history. Sarah Bridges runs the Heritage Service

at Northamptonshire County Council

and plans to develop a centre here so we can all learn about our past.

Can you imagine this all covered with Roman buildings?

Shops, houses, gardens

in this huge, huge area.

And Sarah is excited for a very good reason.

This isn't just any old Roman ruin.

This place is so precious, so important to the nation,

that English Heritage has listed it as scheduled monument.

That basically means it's illegal to damage the area

or remove archaeological artefacts.

But one day on a site visit,

Sarah realised somebody had been up to no good.

We were walking along, and then we saw,

sitting in the Roman walled town,

this drum which you put wire around.

And when we approached it, we realised that it was placed over an area of very recently dug ground.

So we pushed it away and had a better look

and could see that somebody had dug what was a trench.

We didn't know how deep at that point.

I was shocked. I couldn't actually initially believe what I'd found,

that someone would have the audacity to be digging a scheduled ancient monument!

People with metal detectors had previously been seen on the land.

Though in most places, that wouldn't be a problem.

But the scheduled monument listing specifically makes it an offence

to use a metal detector on the site.

Sarah suspected criminals were stealing from the farmland,

and she was determined to stop them.

When Sarah rang us

to say that the problem had escalated,

that there were actually trenches appearing on the land,

this was a whole different level.

And we had to come out and investigate.

Roman sites are rich pickings for illegal detectorists,

because they know Roman culture was very rich in metalwork.

They had a lot of jewellery, nice personal possessions.

Some sites have silverware and that kind of stuff.

That's what they're going for.

Now, that isn't your everyday Roman site,

but in the back of the minds of these people is,

"I'm going to strike it rich.

"I'm going to find something really valuable. I'm going to find treasure and it'll make me rich."

They'd be looking for even the sort of cooking implements,

like spoons, ladles, that kind of everyday piece of equipment.

Make no mistake about this - this is theft.

It's theft and trespass.

This is not, you know, someone having a bit of fun

on an ancient site that no-ones cares about.

A lot of energy has been invested in this site

and it's our most protected form of monument.

And these people were thieving.

Now, everyone understands that.

We arrived together

and just started walking down to the site.

And it was at that point we saw two men metal-detecting

in the corner of the field.

But the minute that they saw us,

they didn't want to hang around for a conversation. They knew they shouldn't be there.

The problem is, you don't know who you're dealing with

and you just can't take the risk.

To go and confront someone in a big field

is possibly not a sensible thing to do.

But fortunately, they did have one weapon to defend the site.

Their camera.

Ben and Helen instantly had evidence of the thieves in action.

They followed the two men at a distance and phoned the police,

who quickly arrived with a dog team and arrested the suspects.

Stand still or I'll let this dog go!

It's your last chance!

And while the police investigation swung into action,

Ben and Helen went back to the farm

for some detective work of their own.

We were both very conscious, from our previous experience

of cases like this, that they will very often try not to retain

material and equipment on them, especially at the time of arrest.

So we spent time looking around field boundaries

in order to see whether or not they had deposited anything

before they'd started walking off around the site.

And then were successful in finding

a shovel and a metal detector on site.

Despite being caught red-handed,

the two men denied they'd done anything wrong.

I mean, they just said, which I found extraordinary,

that they'd just been wandering across the site

and they happened to have their metal detectors with them.

Clearly a lot of thought and planning had gone into it to bring the appropriate kit onto the site.

And the time it must have taken to move the earth.

But these men were not everyday, law-abiding metal detectorists.

Their version of events was a pack of lies.

And when the police started searching their homes,

they struck gold.

At both addresses, a vast amount of Roman coinage was found.

There were other artefacts found.

These were all seized at that time.

Not looking good for the suspects.

But then the police found something that framed them once and for all.

Police recovered cameras from one of the defendants,

and a number of photographs was removed from it.

One of the images shows one of the defendants

sitting inside an excavated dig.

It was believed that that hole there

is actually the same

as that backfilled hole there.

We then had permission to re-excavate

the part of the site,

and it can be clearly seen that that excavation there

is the same as the excavation there

that one of the defendants is sitting in.

With the weight of evidence against them,

both defendants decided to plead guilty.

They were each given 12-month suspended prison sentences -

the first time anyone has ever been given a custodial sentence

for this type of crime.

Both men also received antisocial behaviour orders.

Antisocial behaviour can be anybody.

And it's not just teenagers

standing on the street corners.

This is a different form of antisocial behaviour.

There's quite a lot of unprotected archaeology out there.

Not all of these sites are scheduled and protected.

In fact, few of them are.

And those sites, we think they're being looted on a daily basis.

We keep getting reports of illegal metal detector activity.

Goodness knows what we're losing.

Security at the Chester Farm site has now been ramped up.

This case shows that anyone

who dares to destroy even a tiny piece of our history

will face the full force of our laws.

Antisocial behaviour is about a lack of human decency

and disrespect for people around you.

If someone's way of life is making yours a misery,

that's about as antisocial as it gets.

But lucky enough for you and me, there are plenty of people out there that we can turn to.

And this series is their chance to shine.

We're on the front line with the highly skilled teams

of council workers, police officers and local volunteers

who are committed to keeping our streets safe and clean

and taking on our antisocial battles on a daily basis,

to make sure that our lives are not blighted

by other people's bad behaviour.

This is Street Patrol UK.

Back in East London, the Vice Squad

is fighting antisocial behaviour in its most indecent form.

At night, they patrol Tower Hamlets

on the lookout for prostitutes plying their trade on residential streets.

Sergeant Dave Deal and PC James Cockshaw

are fighting for the ordinary folk who can't bear the working girls

getting up to no good right on their doorsteps.

Women, you know, just shouting, screaming

or, you know, asking after money.

We had one lady who, um,

who was actually approached by a kerb-crawler,

asking if she was up for business.

Dave and James know the area like the back of their hand.

And that means they're never far away from a street worker they recognise.

So there's a prostitute with a young man

just gone down Gunthorpe Street.

I know there's a car park area down Gunthorpe Street

that the women use,

so she could be going there.

Or...

she could just be walking through into Whitechapel with a friend.

We don't know that...

that's a punter.

They're just coming out the other end.

They could be going for anything.

They could be going to get something to eat, drugs...

They could be going somewhere else to have sex.

But Dave receives a message from a CCTV control centre

that gives him a clue about what she's up to.

There's a car that we know

that is supplying drugs

and there's three people that we've seen

that look like they're going to pick up drugs.

So I would think that they've arranged a meeting

and they're walking towards it at the moment.

We've got CCTV watching them,

seeing where they're going.

And we're going to try and intercept the car

with the drug dealers.

The car will pull up, the deal will take about ten seconds.

And then the car will drive off again.

And everywhere the prostitutes are, the drug dealers are.

Nobody really wants to be a prostitute.

That's just a way of either funding their drug habit...

..or getting by in life.

The use of CCTV allows the Vice Squad to follow

any suspected drug dealer without being seen themselves.

And when they get the word from the control centre,

they can pounce.

MESSAGE OVER RADIO

Yeah.

SIREN BLARES

Get out the car!

Get out the car! Get out the car.

The prostitute they were watching

was seen leaning into the car.

She, though, has legged it.

Come back!

Stay here, otherwise I will sort you out later.

Right, got any drugs on you?

-You know you're getting searched, don't you? You know you're getting searched?

-I know.

You know I'm a police officer?

David Deal. You know you're entitled to a copy of the search?

-Don't you?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Another Vice Squad car has also arrived

and those officers help with the search.

Yeah, but I was...

As we came in, it appears a drug deal was taking place.

The lady was leaning in front of the car.

Hence why I ran out, trying to get hold of the fella in the front.

It's not uncommon for those guys to drive off,

so I was a bit conscious of getting caught in the crossfire there.

What you will notice - worth having a look at...

There's a quantity of money on the top there,

but also bottles of water.

If police get close to them or behind them,

they'll swallow small wraps of Class A drugs.

Um...

You know, basically to rid themselves of the evidence at the time.

They see it as a risk in terms of their job.

Both males have been searched. We've not found anything on them.

We're just waiting on a female...

This search was under pressure for no reason.

They did not have to search us for no reason at all.

Well, we're out all night tonight. We might see you again.

Everyone is allowed to carry on their evening

in their own pleasant way,

and Dave and James review what's happened.

What was he doing? Why was he...?

He was moving from the front seat to the back seat to get away, cos he knew I was going to grab him.

I had hold of his foot. He was going through the back of the car.

He was trying to move to the back of the car.

The guys continue their search of the streets,

looking out for the many prostitutes they know well.

Two women walking towards us now, both street workers.

You lot just don't leave me alone, do ya?!

All of a sudden, they're called to assist other members of the Vice Squad.

A prolific street worker has been stopped.

She's been caught with a potential customer.

How did the police find you?

-What did you do?

-I dunno.

I was in there and he said he didn't have enough money, so I said forget it.

And as I've walked out, them two have come running in,

so they must have seen me go in there. They must have.

What's he going to do about me?

-About you?

-I ain't asked him yet.

Are you ready to go now? You going to go home?

-I'm definitely going home.

-I'll find out what they're going to do.

Well, the young lady doesn't know yet, but she's going to be arrested in a second

for loitering for the purpose of prostitution.

She's been seen twice tonight by the other car,

warned to leave the area

and she hasn't, obviously. She's been working all night.

-You're arresting me?

-Yeah, I'm arresting you.

The prostitute is taken away to the station.

Because they weren't caught in the act, the man is free to go.

For tonight at least, there's one less street worker for residents to worry about.

It's starting to get light, and James and Dave continue their patrol.

They've spotted a car they suspect is kerb-crawling.

They keep an eye on it, but as they do,

they catch sight of another known prostitute.

I wonder if she

-was in the white car?

-Yeah, she could have been.

Cos it got out very quickly.

We've just seen a known prostitute on the street back there

and she kind of appeared out of nowhere, so we suspect

that she may well have got out of this vehicle ahead of us.

He's just come down Commercial Street. Let's let him go a little bit further.

He's come down Commercial Street

into Wentworth Street. He's just done this loop round.

And now he's heading back towards Commercial Street.

If he'd wanted to come to here,

he should have gone up Brick Lane.

This is quite a good time to come out,

because you've got a lot of people

who were working either a nightshift or something like that

and they're just finishing,

or some people who are up very early and they'll often come round here

to see if they can find a prostitute before going into work

or after having finished work.

SIREN BLARES

They decide to have a chat with the driver.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this vehicle over the past few...

Whether it's been this week or previous weeks, doing loops around the Wentworth Street area,

Commercial Street...

The driver says he's been looking for a cash machine

before going to work, and denies looking for a prostitute.

If we had some actual evidence

that you were speaking to prostitutes,

what we would possibly do,

if we couldn't arrest you for catching you in the act,

we would send the registered keeper of the vehicle that you happen to be driving

a letter saying that you are frequenting an area known

that prostitutes frequent.

So, it may well be a wife, it may well be a business partner,

your wife, a partner, anyone, who actually gets that letter to them.

You don't need that.

But that is one way that we try and deal with the issue.

That sounds like a very effective deterrent for anyone.

It won't happen to this gentleman,

because he's not been seen with a prostitute.

You definitely won't see me in Wentworth Street.

I'll go the long way round to get to the bank!

No worries. See you later.

The boys are at the end of their nightshift.

They've moved on a lot of ladies, and made a number of men think twice

about what they get up to after dark.

And each time they stop someone,

it makes it easier for the residents to sleep peacefully in their beds.

Since we filmed with our antisocial saviours,

we've got some updates for you.

In London, the prostitute arrested by the Vice Squad tested positive for cocaine.

As a result, she agreed to go on a drug prevention programme

in order to have the charges against her dropped.

But she was warned that if she was found to have used drugs again,

she faced a fine or possibly being taken to court.

Our actions over the last year and a half

have dramatically improved antisocial behaviour,

and they've seen a huge reduction in the amount of especially sex offences that have been ongoing,

especially the drug-dealing and street-drinking and loitering around the estate.

In Basildon, despite noisy neighbour Mr Brown's promises

to stop his disruptive behaviour,

a further visit had to be made

and since then, things have got much more serious.

Since we visited, there has been a notice to quit served upon him,

which will result in him being taken to court.

This is an extreme circumstance,

but because of the nuisance and the complaints we've received, we had no other option.

Thanks for watching. See you next time.

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